Travello, a Brisbane, Australia-based youth travel experience startup, announced that it raised $10 million in Series B funding.
The round was led by Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), with participation from Paspalis Innovation Investment Fund.
The fund will be used to consolidate its position as a leading tour and travel experience brand for millennials and prepare for pent-up travel post-pandemic.
Since re-opening post lockdowns and border closures, the company has seen a growth of 7x driven by domestic travel, amid signs that inbound international travelers are beginning to return. Pre-covid domestic travel accounted for only 5–10% of Travello’s sales.
Cofounder and CEO Ryan Hanly said.“One of our biggest competitors is the pamphlet wall in the lobby or a hotel, so Travello’s digital-first play uniquely positions us to capture the growth potential this market offers,” he said.“Many youth travel brands, including the iconic STA and Student Flights, did not survive covid, so the lack of competitors presents a unique opportunity for Travello to capture market share.“We acquired Backpacker Deals last year, and that was a great move, so this funding will allow us to look at similar acquisitions while also accelerating our growth and expansion into both new regions and categories, like outbound multi-day tours.”
The youth travel market represented around a quarter of visitor arrivals in 2019, yet contributed 40% of total tourism spend, with experiences a key focus.
Company: Travello Pty Ltd
Raised: $10.0M
Round: Series B
Funding Month: October 2022
Lead Investors: Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC)
Additional Investors: Paspalis Innovation Investment Fund
Company Website: https://experiences.travelloapp.com/
Software Category: Travel Experiences Platform
About the Company: Founded in 2016 by Ryan Hanly and Mark Cantoni, Travello is a SaaS-driven digital marketing solution for the travel industry. It provides a location-based marketing portal, white-label apps, advertising, content management, customer review tools, automated messaging, digital wallets, customer analytics, and more. Travello enables users to browse and book more than 20,000 tours, attractions, and activities at an affordable price. Travello is used by more than 2 million people in 180 countries. Its vision is to bring even more incredible experiences from every continent directly to you—search less, travel more.
Source: https://www.startupdaily.net/topic/funding/millennial-focused-travel-startup-banks-10-million-series-b/